Doggy dress up in Lee raises money for Humane Society

Monday

Oct 8, 2012 at 3:15 AMOct 8, 2012 at 10:44 PM

By ANDREA BULFINCHabulfinch@fosters.com

LEE — Costumed canines strolled through the autumn landscape at Demeritt Hill Farm Sunday afternoon for the annual Parade Your Pooch event raising funds for the Cocheco Valley Humane Society.Dressed as bumble bees, tigers, elephants, devils and a variety of other creatures hundreds of dogs and their humans turned out for the event where teams of walkers raised money from pledges, made donations and 10 percent of proceeds from the upcoming Haunted Overload tours would be combined for a contribution to the shelter.Kelly Bowen, volunteer coordinator for CVHS, said over $11,000 was raised at the event last year and with the crowd streaming into the farm on Sunday, she said they hoped to exceed that amount.Dalton Meagher of Berwick, Maine, was walking along with Angus, an 11-year-old Jack Russell, and said he’d never been involved with the event, but was loving the day walking through the trails and seeing tables from sponsors. Set up were Barkin’ Market Vendor Alley promoting everything from dog training courses, pooch shampoo products, and even scarves for dogs.“I just love dogs,” he said.Competitive categories for the event included best costume, musical sit, best trick, and best kiss. WOKQ 97.5 was on site to introduce over the airwaves some of the dogs available for adoption at CVHS.Linda Grisbon was being led along by her furry friend, Huey, 7, a Labrador retriever she said she adopted form the shelter years ago.“He’s been with me through just about everything and this is a fun way to spend time with him while raising money for the place where I found him,” she said.Huey was Girsbon’s first dog, and said she couldn’t imagine her life without her goofy buddy, dressed as a giraffe on Sunday.Proceeds of the event go toward caring for homeless animals at the shelter and obtaining some items off of the “wish list” available from CVHS volunteers — including rawhide chews, leashes, paper towels, catnip, and rope toys.Eric Radcliffe brought along his English Setter, Hazelnut, and was enjoying his first time taking part in the event as a member of Broadview Animal Hospital’s staff.“We all brought our own dogs today,” he said, as Hazelnut tugged to get moving.With so many canines and humans sprawling over the property, Radcliffe said he was happy with how well things were going.“It’s nice. It’s kind of cool to see all these dogs together without any problems,” he said.Buzzing around their human’s feet nearby, Kyna, Gracey, and Margot, Chihuahua’s dressed as bumble bees matching Elizabeth Miller’s own outfit, were getting ready to embark on the walk.“I just like that it’s raising money for the shelter,” she said.Along with her husband and pups, she said, taking part in the event was something they really enjoyed.“We always love doing fund raising with CVHS,” Brian Miller said.